Hurricane Bill gained strength as it crossed the warm waters of the Atlantic Monday night, and forecasters said the first hurricane of this year's Atlantic season had increased to a Category 2 storm with winds whipping at 100 mph.

Hurricane Bill is expected to become a major storm in the next couple of days, with winds topping 110 mph as it moves on a track expected to be near Bermuda by the end of the week.

At 10 p.m. New Orleans time, the center of Hurricane Bill was located
near latitude 15.0 north, longitude 48.3 west, or about 865 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.

Bill is moving toward the west-northwest near 17 mph, and this motion is expected to continue for the next day or two with a gradual turn to the northwest on Wednesday.